Hello Bryce
Here are some tips that will help triage the issue
* Is the person using "3d" - try reproducing the issue without it
Disable AIGLX in the X server
(Re)move the file (or package providing it) "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/nouveau_dri.so"
* Try booting with "nouveau.nofbaccel=0"
* Amend the previous option to read "nouveau.noaccel=0"
Although before attempting any of the above I would recommend trying the git master branch (or as close as) of the following
* [1] xf86-video-nouveau
* [2] kernel
* [3] mesa
Note that those tips can be used for any case/issue
Cheers
Emil
[1] http://cgit.freedesktop.org/nouveau/xf86-video-nouveau/
[2] http://cgit.freedesktop.org/nouveau/linux-2.6/
[3] http://cgit.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa/